The concept of the show has been in the works for a few years, beginning during the COVID-19 pandemic when many artists like Fleming were out of work.
World-renowned soprano Renée Fleming has long established herself as an icon in the opera world, taking on almost every imaginable role and playing most of the iconic music venues around the world — even the Sphere in Las Vegas with Dead & Company last year.
Fleming brings her show, Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, to The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda on Wednesday, May 27.
The concept of the show has been in the works for a few years, beginning during the COVID-19 pandemic when many artists like Fleming were out of work.
Fleming had been throwing around the idea of doing music from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and combining it with 21st century songs.
She asked her team, “Why don’t we juxtapose those two things, some modern music that we can even commission, talking about nature and sort of connecting to it now, versus the beautiful, romantic songs of that earlier century,“ Fleming told WTOP.
That led to the creation of the album of the same title as the show, which won Fleming her fifth Grammy. She’s been nominated 18 times.
Based on the success of the album, Fleming told her team they needed to tour.
The singer recalled someone who introduced her to the CEO of National Geographic, and she thought the media group’s nature films could be perfect for her shows.
“We really want people to just be reminded of how much we love the planet and how much it deserves our care and and so it’s half the program is that … with this beautiful film,” Fleming said. “And I wanted to do it in D.C. … or in the DMV area.”
In January, Fleming canceled two May dates with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. She was one of several artists who canceled shows there amid leadership changes and a name change at the performing arts center.
Fleming had been inextricably linked with the center, having performed there several times over the years and being a Kennedy Center honoree in 2023.
In 2025, Fleming stepped down from her role as the center’s Artistic Advisor-At-Large after the forced resignations of Chair David Rubenstein and President Deborah Rutter. Fleming declined to discuss her departure and show cancellations.
As the old entertainment adage goes, “The show must go on.” In March, Fleming announced Strathmore would be the new venue for the Anthropocene show.
Fleming is no stranger to the arts and cultural center in North Bethesda. In December 2023, the soprano teamed with former NIH director Dr. Francis Collins for a workshop at Strathmore called Music as Medicine: The Science and Clinical Practice.
The workshop aimed to “highlight accomplishments in advancing scientific research on music and health, develop a blueprint for the next phase of research and further build the research community,” according to an NIH press release.
Several years prior, Fleming had a memorable dinner at the Inn at Little Washington with Collins and three high-profile Supreme Court justices. That dinner, which took place shortly after a landmark decision from the court, changed her perspective on the impact music can have.
“I’ll never forget it, because it was a tense evening at first,” said Fleming. “They didn’t agree, as Supreme Court justices don’t typically, this was especially vitriolic, and I was placed between Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Antonin Scalia. So both (were) opera lovers … but by the end of the evening, Francis Collins brought his guitar. We got a sing along. Everybody was jolly. We had a great time.”
The Anthropocene show will feature a couple of selections from Fleming’s new album, a collaboration with banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck called “The Fiddle and the Drum.” The name comes from a 1969 Joni Mitchell song. The album, scheduled for release on May 29, features several vocalists including country music legend Dolly Parton.
“If you had told me that I would someday record with Dolly Parton, I would have said I can’t imagine how that could possibly happen, but it’s the truth. And she sounds absolutely fantastic. I mean, I’ve always truly admired her in so many different ways.”
The album’s debut single, “In The Pines,” featuring Parton, was released in March.
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